Marquavious D. Ware pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree criminal mistreatment in the death of his 4-year-son, Jahorden Clay, during a tumultuous court proceeding Thursday afternoon at the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland.
The 19-year-old stood silently as a defense attorney entered the plea, but behind him came sobs and ragged breath.
“He’s staring at me,” said Jonicia Clay, 21, the boy’s mother. “He did it on purpose.”
Clay, sitting in the gallery among a group of about 10 people who identified themselves as the victim’s family, was shaking and flushed. She clutched a child’s rain jacket and rain boots. She told police Ware had wanted custody and that the boy had been with his father for about a month.
During the arraignment, when a prosecutor asked if anyone wanted to make a statement, a young woman sitting with the victim’s family said, “We’re all victims.”
Another woman approached the judge.
“I want my nephew to get justice,” she said, referring to Jahorden. “I want to be strong for my sister, for my family, but it’s hard. I made a bed today that he’ll never sleep in. I put away toys today that he’ll never play with again. He was supposed to be protected and he wasn’t.”
The woman ran out of the courtroom. Stifled wails echoed from the hallway.
As the arraignment adjourned, a man who the victim’s family said was Ware’s younger brother, turned to the group and said, “He ain’t no child killer.”
This set off screams and shoving, and officers broke up a scuffle that was apparently between a member of the victim’s family and a member of the defendant’s family.
“I need air, I’m going to have a panic attack,” a woman said.
Over the sounds of yelling in the courthouse lobby, Jonicia Clay leaned against a wall and quietly spoke to herself.
“My son is really dead,” she said, staring blankly ahead.
Meanwhile, sheriff’s deputies held back several people as they shouted curses at a man in a hooded sweatshirt, who taunted them in return as he walked down the building’s front stairs.
The melee continued outside the courthouse. A deputy restrained a man against the brick facade.
Jonicia Clay made it outside before breaking down, gagging between sobs. The group of family members huddled around her as she vomited.
She told reporters she hadn’t seen her son since April 7, when she dropped him off with Ware.
Clay said she’d had custody of their son since she gave birth to him at 16.
She allowed his father to spend time with the boy on many weekends, but when that weekend in April was over, Ware refused to bring Jahorden back to her, she said. He was supposed to start preschool soon.
But he never came home again.
Jonicia Clay said she went to the police bureau’s North Precinct to report that her son had been kidnapped and was told that an officer would check on Jahorden.
“It didn’t do anything,” she said. “They failed my son.”
She showed a screenshot photo of the last time she FaceTimed with Jahorden, and pointed to a bruise on his forehead.
Her son’s injuries were so bad that she hasn’t been allowed to see his body yet, Clay said.
The young mother said she’s heard different stories about how her son died: that he had a seizure, choked on a Skittle, was coughing up blood. She said she doesn’t know what happened, but she believes Ware is responsible.
The Portland Police Bureau said officers were called to assist paramedics Wednesday afternoon at an apartment complex in the 6400 block of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where 4-year-old Jahorden was unconscious and had signs of “significant trauma.”
Detectives found blood on a bed, pillow and bedroom floor, and a relative in the apartment said he had heard Ware yelling at the boy for sneaking Skittles and later saw Ware washing blood from the boy’s mouth in the bathtub. Police also found blood in the toilet and blood and vomit on the bathroom floor, a probable cause affidavit said.
Paramedics who treated the boy said he had blood in his lungs and took him by ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where he died. A child abuse pediatrician said his heart had collapsed from loss of blood, and she was unable to extract any urine from the boy because he was dehydrated. She said he appeared undernourished, as well. A medical examiner said the boy died from blunt force trauma.
In an interview with a detective, the boy’s mother shared a video of her son from March 23. He was running and playing and appeared to be healthy, according to the affidavit.
“I want him in jail for the rest of his life,” Jonicia Clay said of Ware.
The bureau did not immediately respond to questions about whether the family had contacted police before the day of Jahorden’s death.
The Oregon Department of Human Services, citing confidentiality laws, declined to comment on whether there were any welfare cases involving the boy.
Ware’s next court hearing is scheduled for May 12.
Reporter Catalina Gaitan contributed to this story.
– Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonian.com: 503-221-6651; @savannaheadens
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